Newport Rhode Island to Hudson Bay, New York

Hi Dears: We left Newport Rhode Island nearly a week ago. The city park we stayed at, Melville Pond, just five miles outside of Newport, was an amazing retreat.

And ... it was located on Sullivan Drive!

We had a huge grassy field to ourselves, along with a few hundred acres of ponds and hiking trails, butting up to the Naragannset Bay.

Norma (with her dog Midge), one of the rangers, a former bus driver, even gave me

lessons driving my rig. Had the whole park to ourselves. It was great. I am not there yet, but feel more confident.

The Newport mansions and Ocean Drive were incredible. Newport was certainly the playground for the New England wealthy. We toured many mansions. The Vanderbuilt mansion, the Breakers, was by far the finest. Many towns we have visited have a cliff walk along the amazing homes and hotels that line the ocean. Newport’s is the best … so far. Ocean Drive reminds me of Pebble Beach’s 17 mile drive – amazing ocean, parks butting up to the coast and great mansions one after the next (underlining not intended ... it does what it wants).

Vanderbilt Mansion, named the Breakers

Ocean view from Vanderbilt Mansion.

Carolina at the Vanderbilt.

Newport Beach cliffs.

Cliff Walk

Pagoda on the cliff walk.

A Newport street lined with mansions.

A gateway on Cliff Walk.

Newport City Hall.

40 stairs to the ocean, Cliff Walk.

Another huge old mansion.

A gazebo on Cliff Walk.

We left Newport and have been living on a peninsula in the middle of the Hudson River for many days now – only a half hour north of Manhattan, but worlds away. Incredible park called Crotan Point, 500 acres of amazing trees all fronted by the Hudson River. Totally amazing park.

Autumn leaves are that gorgeous light orange, just as they are about to Fall.

We drove ten miles through historic, quaint old villages -- Sleepy Hollow (the town Washington Irving wrote about), Mount Pleasant, Tarreytown, Ossining -- with tiny little streets in this huge rig to get here! All of these villages line the East bank of the Hudson. We toured the Rockefeller mansion and walked the streets of these Hudson River towns. Very charming!

A castle in Tarrytown.

The lighthouse at Sleepy Hollow.

Old cathedral in Ossining.

A home in Sleepy Hollow.

Incredible church in Ossining.

Rockefeller Estate.

Village of Sleepy Hollow.

Another ancient church.

And, today we shall finagle the fleet through the ten miles of these tiny village streets on our way to the amazing Tappan Z Bridge, which connects at Tarrytown! The Bridge is amazing -- three miles across the Hudson. I am filled with adventure anticipating our trip. We have timed it for Sunday morning so these little village streets will be easier to maneuver and so this amazing NY bridge will be a sleepy Sunday bridge instead of a zoo of NY cars.

We are headed just outside of Philadelphia to see the amazing gardens that are part of the city, and, of course, its history. The weather is with us, a week of full sun ahead, 50s and 60s.

What an amazing life this is, more incredible than I ever could have imagined – especially so now that I have healed. I want to share my medical story with you. I’ve always enjoyed the very finest of health, but about 8 months ago I started having the most debilitating headaches, almost all the time. After many months, they turned into neck aches. I went to nine doctors, had every conceivable test, had prescriptions for a drugstore of meds. It was hell. But, I was persistent. I refused to accept that ‘You’re just getting older, aches and pains are part of it”, “migraines can start anytime. They just come out of the blue.”

I researched the internet endlessly and found the answer – I had forward head syndrome. My whole life my feet moved faster than my head, my head was carrying my body … and the neck just isn’t made to support a forward head, which is basically a 30 pound bowling ball on a skinny neck. And, as we all know, I’ve been a workaholic hunched over the computer for way too many hours for nearly 25 years.

I did exercises to strengthen my neck muscles, straighten my posture, got a biofeedback T-shirt that buzzed me when my head stuck out, got an ergonomically correct office chair, positioned my computer and me at the right level. And, after a month and a half of this, I am completely well. Back to myself, no headaches, no neck aches, but a head over my ears! We’re all getting older but we don’t have to accept that that as we age illness, pain and debilitation have occur. They don’t. We are meant to be strong and healthy and can be until the day we die. Anyway … just wanted to share my story with you … and my joy that I am well.

Thanks so much for sharing this adventure called life with us.

Love, The Vagabonds